Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Can you believe this was my THIRD year attending Alt? As bad as it sounds I feel like it took going three years for me to finally figure it out and enjoy myself. The first year I had NO idea what I was doing. I floated from thing to thing with absolutely no goal or purpose in mind. And then last year I felt deathly ill with morning sickness. I didn't go to any of the after parties or really talk to many people.

I laugh when I look at this picture Justin took of me on the first day. But I swear my face probably looked like this the majority of the time. The first year I went I was excited but mostly anxious and last year I was so yucky and sick. This year I was super excited. From sun up to sun down I was loving life during Alt this year.

Believe it or not the last two years I have skipped out on the dinner. It's hard for me to leave my kiddos for two full days of Alt so I never make the wednesday night sponsor dinners a priority. This year I went to the Minted dinner and had a blast.

The thing I loved most about attending the Minted dinner was getting a chance to talk to bloggers in a more intimate environment. I made friends that I was able to connect with all throughout the conference. Which leads me to my next point...

One of my very favorite things to do in the world is to meet people face to face that I've known through blogging. You get that opportunity all the time at Alt. I've been reading Courtney's blog, A Thoughtful Place, for years now and we've emailed back and forth a few times but it was SO cool to get to meet her in person. She is super sweet and I so wish I had gotten to chat with her more.

I partied hard with Alycia and Diana at the Clue party. I even crashed their hotel room to get ready for it.

I feel like every spare second that I had I used to talk with people and get to know them better. My FAVORITE thing about Alt are the people that attend. There are so so so so many talented people that inspire me in so many ways. I probably chatted a few people's ears off (sorry Tauni) but I feel like I could talk to fellow bloggers forever.

I love this picture of me talking to Amanda. She has been to every year of Alt with me and I feel like Alt wouldn't be the same without her. She lives in Southern Utah so I don't get to see her very often.

I think this picture is THE BEST because Amy and Melanie are two of the nicest people in the world (cant' you just see it in their smiles?) Melanie is one of my favorite blogging friends that I've known for awhile and Amy is a brand new blogging friend that I got to meet during the summit.

Since I was so sick last year I hardly got to enjoy all of the yummy treats. The food at Alt ROCKS! Don't tell anyone but I stuffed like 10 of these truffles in my purse and took them home with me. They were amazing.

This is a picture of me at the Better Homes & Gardens Roundtable on Friday morning. I really put myself out there this year in terms of networking which is something I have never done in previous years. I came prepared with ideas and I came away with a newfound determination to find ways to work with brands I love. I am determined to connect more with brands this upcoming year.

The only reason I even got to go to Alt this year was because I was asked to be a speaker. The summit sold out so fast there is no way I would have been able to go otherwise. I had the most amazing time speaking with my fellow panel members. I'm not gonna lie I was pretty nervous about it but it went great! I'm saving more info on the experience and what we talked about for a separate post. (get excited)

All in all it was an AMAZING few days. I hope you are not sick of hearing about Alt yet because I'll be posting more of what I learned later!